Tuesday, July 24, 2012

We Love Valdez, Alaska

We only spent two days in Valdez on the coast of Alaska but it was an amazing two days. The drive is beautiful, even if it is raining. Our first day we were able to go out on my uncle Dan's boat to Prince William Sound. We saw several Humpback Whales close to the boat and Dall's Porpoise were playing with the boat; they look like small Killer Whales with a crazy spray.



Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) - with calf


                                              Dall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)





We got to see the Columbia Glacier along with several Sea Otters, which are super cute. The Glacier had large chunks of ice floating in the water. We picked a small one up for the cooler to keep our drinks cold.












As you can see below Valdez is one of the most beautiful places on Earth!


The next day we went Halibut fishing and had a blast! We all got our limit of Halibut and made it back to see some fisherman do some Salmon seining. It is amazing to see them do this. But the fishermen are not the only ones catching fish, so are the Sea Lions! If you get a chance to spend time in Valdez take at least a week. You will not regret it.

Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris) feeding on Pink Salmon or Humpback Salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha)


Steller's Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus) feeding on Pink Salmon or Humpback Salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha)



Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , ,

5 comments:

  1. Tammy BilodeauJuly 21, 2012 at 10:36 PM

    Yes, I have seen those around FSJ, but didn't know that they pinch. I had a grasshopper bite my neck a few weeks back and no one beleives me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJuly 25, 2012 at 1:48 PM

    Absolutely gorgeous John! Reminds me of my trip to Alaska last summer....I am ready to go back! Great pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  3. GrayPlayerMarch 23, 2013 at 3:03 PM

    Have been to Alaska twice, one trip out of Seward, weather did not cooperate, still an amazing trip. I am sooo envious.
    Great web site.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My FamilyApril 13, 2013 at 8:48 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Stock imagesJune 27, 2013 at 5:45 AM

    Lovely photographs!!
    You have capture nice photos , i think your trip going really good . Thanks for sharing these picture , superb post ..

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

About Me

My photo
John is Curator of Entomology at the University of Texas at Austin. Kendra is a Professor at St. Edwards University in Austin. John has focused on dragonflies and damselflies in his career. He has two books Dragonflies and Damselflies of Texas and the South-central United States and The Damselflies of Texas. He is currently working on the Dragonflies of Texas. John and Kendra are also currently both working on revising the Peterson Field Guide to Insects of North America. We have had the opportunity to travel extensively throughout Latin America, Africa and other parts of the world where we enjoy taking photos of pretty much anything that will allow us to capture its image. We are lucky enough to be able to teach students about the amazing biodiversity we see and to travel and photograph together.